Past Greatness

There’s a such thing as being a legend in your own mind. We often have a tendency to look back upon the past with fond memories and we even gloss over the pains and problems. I once dated a girl and was convinced that I loved her. We had many issues, not the least of which was her inability to remain faithful. I made the correct decision and ended the relationship. Several years later, I found myself in a lonely state of mind and briefly considered the prospect of dating this person again. My mind fondly remembered the good times and the closeness and I spent a few days reminiscing over the possibilities. Fortunately, another thought finally emerged. What about the bad times? Once this thought process began, I was able to save myself from making a terrible mistake. I often see this same concept emerge in the world of sports. Lots of people remember their past sports greatness in a much brighter light than it actually was. There’s no end to players who would have been pro if it wasn’t for the coach who had it out for them or them blowing out their knee or tweaking their shoulder or arm. We even had a an “athlete” at our church who bragged about playing football at a local college. It was funny to hear him backtrack and change his story when 2 other football players joined our church who really did play for that University. As it turns out, he played intramural ball. It’s one thing to have fond memories of past accomplishments but it’s an entirely different thing to create accomplishments and successes that never really happened. The worst incarnation of this syndrome is when parents try to relive their past greatness through their kids. This is a no win situation for either side. The parent requires a standard of excellence that they themselves could have never lived up to and the kid feels an unbearable weight each and every time they tee it up. It’s always better to have others remember your accomplishments than for you to carry them around like trophies for the world to see. The greatest champions of all time sleep securely at night knowing that they have accomplished their dreams and they require nothing further to make their lives better. I have coached basketball for years with my own kids on the team and there are 2 categories of sports parents, those who are able to let their kids be as involved as they desire to be in a game and those who push their kids to compete even when there’s no desire to do so. The parents who coach are a perfect example. If you’re a coach and insist that your kid start the game and get the majority of playing time even when they may not be one of the better players or even when they are an underclassman, you really need to evaluate yourself and your expectations. If your a coach and are able to objectively evaluate your kids skill level and spread the playing time accordingly, you are among the credible minority and I salute you. It doesn’t matter what sport it is and golf is not exception but the words that you should always remember as a parent are ” you don’t have to lie to your kids in order to be a hero in their eyes.” Start today and establish your own greatness and believe me, when you succeed, the world will know.